Super healthy, crazy easy chocolate and chickpea snack rich in protein, fiber, magnesium and anti-oxidants. The perfect grab-and-run snack to boost you out of those afternoon slump.
2-Ingredient Chocolate Chickpea Clusters
I am fast falling in love with 2-ingredient recipes.
Especially whole food healthy 2-ingredient recipes.
They do say necessity is the mother of invention so perhaps that is where my ideas are coming from?
I’m busy. I know, aren’t well all? So maybe you have the same need? I need fast snacks for me and family (and even people who drop in off the street, haha) that boost energy and wake us up (at least me for this last).
Easy protein snacks are just so suited for that. And when they involve mood-boosting dark chocolate, all the better!
How I Thought Of Coating Chickpeas with Chocolate
Our 10-pound Pomeranian hurt his back this week, and he is typically super cheerful, but when he has a hurt, he becomes very moody and sadly quiet as though his world is ending. Poor thing.
Now this back issue is probably pretty painful, so we are all having to take turns babysitting him when it occurs. Hand-feeding him, handing him his water bowl, coaxing him with cucumbers, putting back his heating pad when he walks off with it, dragging it behind him.
If ever there was a time I needed a fast energy-boosting snack, this was it!
So I immediately thought “chocolate”. Perfect nutritious energizer. But I also needed protein.
Enter chickpeas.
Oh sure, I know I took a detour earlier to use white beans instead of chickpeas in some conventional recipes. But that doesn’t mean I’ve cooled to chickpea qualities – never! I love the protein and fiber that they deliver.
How Healthy are Chickpeas?
Chickpeas have been enjoying a reputation in the last few years as being a “superfood”.
This popular legume, or bean, is low in fat and sodium, high in protein, fiber, iron, antioxidants. Also high in vitamin K, folate, phosphorus, zinc, choline, and selenium – all of which are often short in traditional diets.
So wrapping them in magnesium-and-antioxidant rich dark chocolate seems like the perfect way to a wholesome easy healthy snack!
The end result is rich dark chocolate and salty interior – no manufactured candy bar can come close in taste or nutrition to this homemade wonder.
How to Make Chocolate Chickpea Clusters
They are so easy to make. Look at my step-by-step image below.
The only time-drag here is you must roast the chickpeas. But that’s all, no other prep is needed.
Pop them in the oven and go do something else while they roast.
But remember, to make the melting magic happen, the chickpeas must go straight from the oven into a bowl of chocolate chips – so plan your schedule accordingly!
You’ve heard of the rule of the gong? Well, this is the rule of the hot chickpea! Okay, now I’m getting silly, all those puppy-sitting-sleepless nights are getting to me.
Do you want more desserts that contain beans?
How about my White Bean Edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough?
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2-Ingredient Chocolate Chickpea Clusters
Ingredients
- 1 can (15oz/425gms) chickpeas (I use organic bpa-free brands, including WholeFoods 365)
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Rinse chickpeas and spread parchment on a small cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for one hour. Stir twice to make sure undersides are also toasted.
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Pour chocolate chips in a bowl, and put HOT chickpeas straight from the oven on top of the chocolate chips, stirring to melt them. If you need to, microwave the bowl in increments of 20 seconds until chocolate is melted enough to stir and coat the chickpeas.
- Replace the parchment in the cookie sheet and dollop 1 tbsp of mixture in rows, with 1 inch separation. Chill in refrigerator for one hour.
- They are ready to eat! Store in frig or room temperature, it’s up to you.
Dee Dine is the recipe developer and writer behind Green Smoothie Gourmet. She shares her super healthy wholesome recipes on her blog and her Instagram that she feeds her family and friends. She gravitates toward recipes that are fast to create, plant-based, nutritious, easy, and use familiar ingredients. And chocolate is always a good idea! More about Dee.
Ela
Chickpeas?! Wow, Dee! You are such a creative chef! I really love the idea of using chickpeas in this amazing easy recipe. Looks super delicious. Much love, Ela 🙂
Dee Dine | Green Smoothie Gourmet
Aww thank you Ela! I love these super fast super few-ingredient recipes! Dee xx
Jess @choosingchia
Fab recipe Dee! There’s nothing I love more than something quick, easy, with minimal ingredients, and chocolate!
Dee Dine | Green Smoothie Gourmet
Jess, thank you! Yes, I agree, I love fast easy recipes! Dee xx